Trials carried out by the Royal Military Academy of Belgium served as evidence in a trial against a fake bomb detector conman

Dr. Yann Yvenic from the Belgium Royal Military Academy, coordinator of the TIRAMISU project

In May 2013 a fraudster who sold fake bomb detectors was jailed for 10 years.

He is thought to have made £50m (i.e. over 58 M €) from sales of more than 7,000 of the fake devices to countries, including Iraq.

During the trial, the court was told the detectors, which cost up to $40,000 (i.e. over 29,000 €) each, were completely ineffective and lacked any scientific basis.

At the Old Bailey in London, the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, Mr Justice Hone handed down the maximum sentence for a crime that he described as “a callous confidence trick”. He said the case was the most serious of its kind that he has ever known.

Tests carried out by the Royal Military Academy of Belgium, the coordinator of the TIRAMISU project, served as evidence during the trial to prove the inefficiency of the fake explosive detection devices.